KUALA LUMPUR – In her preparations to win gold in the women’s high jump at the 2022 Malaysian Games (Sukma), Perak’s Ngu Jia Xin lost 5kg in two weeks and only ate one meal a day.
As harsh as it sounds, the 22-year-old’s determination paid off when she won the high jump event with a height of 1.70m here at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.
Jia Xin’s win today meant she successfully defended her 2018 Perak Sukma Games gold medal when she cleared the bars at 1.66m.
Although the fear still lingers, Jia Xin said her “weight loss from hell” was also an interesting experience.
“I was 60kg before, but my coach wanted me to reduce my weight to 55kg.
“So I did all I could to bring my weight down. I ate once a day, and in between, I would only snack on nutrition bars. I had to resist not eating sweet things even though I have a sweet tooth.
“But in the end, I think it was worth it because I defended my gold medal,” she said.
Jia Xin added that she faced a similar issue with her weight at the recent Hanoi SEA Games and wants to make sure it does not happen again.
“Before the SEA Games, I also went through several months of weight loss and finished fifth at the SEA Games after clearing 1.65m.
“So after this, I will try my best to eat in moderation, I don’t want to go through the struggles of having my weight fluctuate as it did before,” she added.
Jia Xin also said she intended to break the women’s high jump Sukma record of 1.75m previously set by Norliyana Kamaruddin from Negri Sembilan in the 2010 Melaka edition but decided not to pursue it after learning the National Sports Council’s (NSC) decision not to recognise any new entry as a record this year.
Meanwhile, Sabah’s Andre Anura Anuar won gold in the men’s long jump, after clearing a distance of 7.40m to claim his gold in the event.
Andre, who holds the current long jump national record of 8.02m, said this would be his final appearance at tournaments this year as he shifts focus to other events next year, such as the Cambodia SEA Games and Asian Games.
In the other athletics events today, Sriven Tan from Penang finished the men’s 10,000m race walk in 48m 15.46s to win gold.
The son of former athletes Tan Chee Leong and D. Kavitha, Sriven finished six seconds ahead of Melaka’s Muhammad Fakhrul Razi Jailani, while Sivanesh Mohan Murali from Negeri Sembilan finished third with a time of 50m 42.84s.
For the men’s hammer throw, it was Negri Sembilan’s Sadat Marzuqi Ajisan who came out on top with a score of 60.63 to claim the podium’s top spot.
In the 400m race, Johor added another gold to their tally after Umar Osman’s time of 47.66s secured him the win in the men’s category, while Chelsea Cassiopea Evali Bopulas gave Sabah the win with her time of 57s in the women’s race.
Yesterday’s men’s 10,000m race winner Muhammad Ikbolasen Md Kamal Hussain added another gold medal around his neck as he won the 3,000m steeplechase event today with a time of 9m 15.24s.
For the women, Puspa Letchumy Jaintheran won the event for Johor with her time of 11m 52.58s. – The Vibes, September 16, 2022.
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